“This is a historic moment,” Rep. Bruce Morris, D-Norwalk, chairman of the Black and Puerto Rican caucus, said before describing legislation that would increase police training on the use of excessive force.

The caucus has unsuccessfully tried to move legislation forward in the past, and are hoping the awareness created by incidents in Ferguson and Baltimore push this year’s legislation over the finish line.

“We do not want to be a state where our governor or someone has to respond to the fact that we are rioting inside of our cities,” Morris said referring to the riots in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray, a young African-American, who sustained injuries when he was arrested by police.

“There’s a social cost,” Morris said.

The draft language was not available yet Thursday, but Sen. Eric Coleman, D-Bloomfield, said the amendment would be attached to S.B. 1109, which seeks to address police training in the use of excessive force, cultural competency, and bias free policing.

The new bill will include language that would allow private citizens to record police activity and bring legal action against a police officer that tried to stop them from recording. Standalone legislation that would have allowed this recording to occur died in the Judiciary Committee, but has been a priority for Senate President Martin Looney for years based on several incidents in New Haven where citizens have had their cellphone taken by the police officers they are recording.